Blog Tour Review & Alternate POV: BECOMING MORE by Bayli Lane
Description
At first it was all freedom, fun, and games for Lilly Fairfield. Being a freshman in college was supposed to create some of the best memories of her life, especially with her best friend, Lauren, and longtime boyfriend, Sander, by her side.
But the excitement begins to slip away when the people closest to her start to change. They begin moving in a direction Lilly doesn’t want to go, forcing Lilly to be faced with a decision. Should she fight for her relationships with both Sander and Lauren or move on to something different? Something unknown. Someone like…
Colton Davenport. Colton isn’t Lilly’s typical type. He’s shockingly sexy with his colorful tattoos, shiny silver lip ring, and ear gauges. His smile alone leaves her breathless. Then again, she hasn’t had a specific type other than Sander. When she meets Colton she feels an automatic attraction that stuns her into utter stillness. She can’t look away, doesn’t want to look away.
Lilly must decide between a life with Sander, a life she always thought she wanted, and an unknown path with Colton.
Will Lilly make the right choices for her future, Becoming More?
**This book is a New Adult Romance – intended for a mature audience.**
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle ♥ Amazon Paperback ♥ B & N Nook
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Alternate POV – Colton
Yesterday I left my father’s house. I stayed at his house for a total of thirteen hours before I realized I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t handle watching him stick his tongue down the throat of those massive, botox lips. I could not tolerate being in the same house as him, let alone watching him put the moves on a woman that wore her makeup to bed and heels around the house. I mean, who the fuck does that?
I didn’t even say goodbye to my dad before I grabbed my duffel bag and tossed it into the love of my life, my 1965 Mustang. I call her Black Beauty. She’s also the only wife I’ll ever need. Call me cynical, but after watching the train wreck of a marriage my parents had, I’m not interested in ever going through it.
I intend to stay single for the rest of my life. No girl could get in the way of that. I don’t give a fuck how hot she is. I don’t care if she’s Kate Beckinsale in Underworld wearing that tight, sexy, black leather outfit. Okay maybe then.
So yeah, I just got to campus yesterday, but already my roommates and I are throwing our first party of the school year. Thirsty Thursday… The day every person that is anyone goes out, forgets about school, and gets completely wasted.
That is my plan for tonight – to get wasted.
The guys already left to go meet up with Clarissa and Becca. We never let those girls walk over here or home by themselves. I guess you could say we’re a bit protective.
They house is already full of people. Shots are being taken, drinking games are being played, I can already see spills on our wooden floors, the music has been turned up, and dancing is taking place in the middle of our living room. I head to the kitchen to pour myself a beer. I’ve seen the majority of the people in here before. A couple of the girls catch my eye and do their little hand waves or winking. I’m not interested. I’ve been with a couple of them, and though I’m not against sleeping with the same woman more than once, I’d rather not. They get attached, and as I said before, I don’t do attachments. I’m never going to be their boyfriend. I will never be their prince charming; I don’t want to be.
I’ve just filled my cup from the keg when Oliver’s loud voice echoes through out our house.
“Colton!” I hear him hollering from the doorway. I don’t bother looking up. He’ll make his way over here after he talks with some of the girls that stop him on his way. Sure enough a girl stops him every foot. They sashay their way up to him, touch his shoulders, his biceps, and though Oliver eats this shit up, he’s not into any of these girls. There’s only one girl he’s into, and she has no clue.
“Colton, dude, you have to meet this chick we just ran into on our way over here,” Oliver declares as he reaches into the fridge, grabbing one of his beers that he hides behind the milk and moldy leftovers.
“Oh yeah? I’m sure there will be a few girls here I wouldn’t mind getting to know tonight,” I joke.
“Man, I’m not kidding, and I don’t even mean it like that. She’s cool. Clarissa seems to get along with her,” he raises an eyebrow.
Yeah, that actually does surprise me. “Clarissa doesn’t get along with very many chicks,” I say, my eyebrows knitting together.
“That’s my point! Lilly seems like a cool person. She’s damn good looking too,” he chuckles and then takes a sip of his beer.
“Better looking than Clarissa?” I press.
“Okay man, stop busting my balls about that shit,” Oliver exclaims.
“I’ll stop when you stop being a pussy and just tell her,” I reply.
“You’re a dick.” He takes a hefty drink. “It’s not the right time. She’s still getting over that ex of hers.”
“Pussy,” I say under my breath.
Oliver ignores my last jab and instead pushes my cup towards me. “Why don’t you man up and chug that beer?” he states.
Challenged accepted. I press the cup to my lips and lean my head back, chugging the entirety of my bitter, slightly warm beer.
Jake is laughing quietly behind Oliver, so I grab a beer and thrust it into his hand. “Your turn, asshole.”
Oliver laughs and looks to his side. Someone catches his eye because he smiles and winks. I turn to see who he’s winking at, maybe Clarissa?
Clarissa is stepping up next to us, but it isn’t her that catches my attention. It’s a girl I’ve never seen before, and she’s beautiful. I take in her entire body in a matter of seconds. I rake my eyes from her feet to her toned, tanned legs, up her thighs to the curve of her ass, her slender waist, perky as all hell tits – what are those? A handful? At least a handful; shit maybe even more. Finally I meet her gaze. And she’s watching me, taking me in, and damn if I’m not devouring every inch of her just as she’s doing to me.
Her dark brown hair is falling down her body in waves, and those emerald green eyes refuse to leave my face. We’re both frozen in this moment. Her cheeks begin to turn pink the longer I watch her. It just makes her even more beautiful than before. But it’s when her teeth start pulling at that full lower lip that I’m about to rush over to her, throw her over my shoulder and head straight for my bedroom.
Clarissa introduces the girl to me as Lilly. So this is the chick Oliver had been speaking about. The man wasn’t lying. Lilly is something else. She doesn’t seem to realize the introduction that Clarissa is trying to present and instead continues to stand there, frozen, watching me.
I can’t help myself – I have to tease her, mostly because if I don’t I’m afraid I’ll go all caveman. Me Colton. You Lilly. Come to Bedroom. Something tells me Lilly wouldn’t appreciate me carting her off to my room without us even getting to know one another first. There’s innocence in the softness of her cheeks, the small shy smile, and the wideness of her eyes.
“Nice to meet you,” she finally says after Clarissa, not so subtly pinches her.
I smile. Yup, I was right. Innocent. “I assume you’re a freshman?”
She laughs. A throaty, happy sound. “What gives me away?”
Oh, she’s quick. “Oh ya know, the nervous twitching,” I continue teasing.
She covers her mouth as she giggles somewhat nervously.
“Stop teasing her!” Clarissa pushes my shoulder.
Not a chance.
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Abby’s Review 3.5 Stars
Lilly is experiencing college life, and life outside of her safe country home for the first time. She leaves for College with her best friend and boyfriend in tow. When she gets there things are not how she planned. Overnight it is like the people she counted on turned into completely different people.
After being ditched by her best friend and boyfriend at a party Lilly leaves and ends up meeting a new group of friends. The relationship she develops with the new group is instant and she quickly becomes good friends, one of which is Colton. Lilly is attracted to Colton but has a boyfriend.
I thought the transition from Lilly’s old friends to new friends was a little to quick. It was peaches n creme until they hit college and then everything was different. I wish more time had passed before the major changes in relationships. I also got a bit annoyed with Lilly’s indecisiveness. Despite those annoyances, I did find myself caught up in this story. I was rooting for Lilly and Colton. There is a nice ending to this as well.
Nicole’s Review 3.5 Stars
There are many milestones in life. They range from the many firsts we experience (first steps, first day of Kindergarten, buying our first bra) to those life experiences that change everything. For me, one of the biggest life experiences I had was going off to college. I remember the excitement, the fear, and the absolute certainty that the friends and relationships I had through high school would never change. Becoming More by Bayli Lane tells the story of how one young woman experiences all of that and more.
Lilly Fairfield is off to college with her childhood best friend as her roommate and her boyfriend of 4 years just across campus. She is full of the excitement that comes from knowing that you are on your own for the first time and blissful naiveté that comes from never having been. Lilly and her roommate, Lauren, are super excited to share all of the good times that are to be had on a college campus. Lilly and her boyfriend, Sander, can’t wait to take their relationship to the next level…the one where you don’t have to sneak in and out of each other’s bedrooms or get all hot and bothered in the backseat of a car! They have planned out their future. They know that they are meant to be together forever. They can’t wait to get college out of the way so that those plans can come to fruition.
It doesn’t take long for those plans to start unravelling…like maybe a week! Between Sander’s bad influence of a roommate and Lauren’s need to party, Lilly quickly sees that the relationships that she has counted on for years may not survive in the college environment. It isn’t just those influences that have Lilly wondering. Her first big night out on campus, Lilly meets Colton Davenport. What a hottie! He’s a sophomore. He sings in a band. He has a huge heart. AND he has a badass look that includes tattoos and piercings! Lilly is dumbstruck by him. He is so unlike Sander and his clean cut self, and yet she is completely attracted to him. The feeling is mutual.
Bayli Lane does a nice job of telling a story about the confliction between past and present relationships and their impact on who you are becoming. I vividly remember seeing high school friendships quietly die as I made new ones in college. I also remember the realization that my friends from high school represented who I thought I was. My college friendships represented who I was becoming and wanted to be.
I give Becoming More 3.5 stars. It’s a good, easy read. It has laughter, tears, angst…all of the good stuff! I did become very frustrated with Lilly’s inability to make decisions and her misplaced loyalties. I also thought that things moved a little fast. Maybe all of that is because I am rarely indecisive, will take my loyalty elsewhere if you don’t deserve it and compared my freshman year pace to the book’s. I don’t know! I do know that I would recommend Becoming More by Bayli Lane. It is a sweet story of growing up and coming into your own.
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Excerpt
The feel of Colton’s skin on mine is more than I ever imagined it would be. God, it’s so much more. I should have known that the sexual attraction between us was so alluring for a reason, but this is unbelievable. It’s like he knows my body better than I do. I’ve never reacted this way before; it’s surreal. I’m afraid it’s going to end, and I’m not ready to feel the lack of Colton against me. Instead, I want more. I reach down and grab at the button on his jeans. He stills on top of me and pulls away from my face. He looks into my eyes and then shakes his head.
“Not today, babe,” he says fiercely and reaches for my hand and pins it above my head. Okay, not what I was going for, but this is pretty nice too.
“Why not?” I whisper against his neck and then press my lips to his pulse.
“I told you earlier. I’m going to take my time with you. I want to get to know your body, slowly.” He grabs my hand and pins it alongside my other. His lips meet mine again in a tantalizing but leisurely tempo. I nibble at his bottom lip and draw the metal ring into my mouth, flicking my tongue across the warm metal.
He moans into my mouth as I let go of the ring. He starts nibbling on my lower lip, pulling it and teasing it with his teeth. “Please,” I beg and push my body against his.
He smiles and places a peck on my lips. “As hot as it is that you want it, not tonight,” he says with ardor and then pulls me up. I sit up, and he sits across from me. He runs his hand along my neck and down my chest, grips my hips, and pulls me onto his lap.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to kiss you,” he says sincerely and bites my shoulder.
I throw my head back while his lips skim the skin to my chin. “Me too,” I reply roughly. I didn’t even know my voice could sound like that; I’m so out of breath.
“It exceeded my expectations,” he says against my skin.
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About the Author
Bayli Lane didn’t realize how much she loved creating a world from nothing until college. She went to Marian University where she majored in Communications but in her spare time wrote and read. Her love for reading is what really brought out her desire to create her own novel. After starting loads of stories and not finishing them, she finally decided it was time to put her passion to work. Becoming More is her first novel but certainly not her last. Bayli lives with her husband, Tim, in Indiana where she is probably sitting with a large cup of coffee and her computer working on her next book.
AUTHOR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorbaylilane
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7061310.Bayli_Lane
